Stephen, Andrew and Matt Orosz seem to score every time they shoot — in business or on the basketball court. They keep their skills sharp with a basketball goal in their offices near Orlando Executive Airport.
THE TRINITY TRIO'S NEXT BIG TRIUMPH
Why now for Trinity Family Builders, which was launched in January? At a time when leading homebuilders aren’t shy about describing their industry as “crazy,” why would three brothers who already have a long track record of success — one that could have triumphantly concluded with a landmark company sale only two years ago — hang out a new shingle yet again?
In their 40s, each could have ridden off into the sunset. Even their early resumés speak volumes about achievement.
Stephen Orosz earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Villanova University and a master’s degree in the same subject from the University of Central Florida before starting a career in public accounting with global Deloitte and Touche.
Andrew Orosz graduated from the University of Notre Dame and received a J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law along with a master’s degree in real estate from the University of Florida Warrington College of Business. He then was a shareholder with the powerful law firm of GrayRobinson, P.A.
Matt Orosz departed Villanova with degrees in accountancy and business administration, then earned an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School at Rollins College in Winter Park. He began his career with JP Morgan Chase.
In 2010, Steve and Matt Orosz founded Royal Oak Homes, which they turned into one of the nation’s fastest-growing homebuilders before selling it in 2013. Then, in 2017, Andrew joined the fray to help establish Hanover Family Builders, which promptly became a top builder and, ultimately, was sold in 2022.
A year earlier, the company reportedly had built and delivered more than 630 homes in 18 Orlando-area communities. All totaled in four years, Hanover closed nearly 2,000 homes as a startup. By any measure, those events equal big success.
So, again, the questions are: Why start another homebuilding company? And why now? The answers, according to Matt Orosz, can be spelled with three letters.
It’s kind of our DNA,” he says. “We’ve had several opportunities where we didn’t have to restart, but I think we’re so passionate about being involved in peoples’ journeys into homeownership that we’re drawn back to [homebuilding] — and we happen to be good at it.”
Boy, are they ever. And there’s clearly some solid evidence behind the DNA theory. The Orosz lineage dates back to the early 1900s when William Orosz Sr. — their grandfather — was a Realtor in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Later, after relocating to Orlando in 1981, Orosz Sr.’s only son, William (Bill) Orosz Jr., worked with a homebuilder before starting Cambridge Homes in 1991. Cambridge Homes grew into one of the largest private homebuilders in Central Florida before it was sold in 2005.
Five years later, Orosz Jr.’s sons begat Royal Oak Homes, named as an ode to Royal Oak, Michigan. As a result, there’s now aptly named Trinity Family Builders — three brothers and their third venture together.
Already, seven Trinity Family Builders subdivisions dot the landscape, mostly in Lake County, with plans for Volusia and Polk counties coming soon. The projects are Blue Spring Reserve Townhomes, Eagletail Landing, Pine Meadows, Ridgeview, Trinity Lakes, Trinity Place and Whitemarsh Townhomes. Each community features amenities that include resort-style swimming pools, shaded playgrounds and more.
Blue Spring is rising in Groveland. With all units three or four bedrooms and sized at more than 2,100 square feet, prices start at $349,999. All floorplans have private garages and there are ample recreational opportunities. At Eagletail Landing in Leesburg,
single-family homes have up to six bedrooms and are a minimum of 1,643 square feet. Prices start at $359,999 in the community.
One more example: Ridgeview, across from Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont, offers single-family homes ranging in size from 1,819 to 4,417 square feet with prices between $489,999 and $594,999. Community highlights include a resort-style swimming pool and cabana and a shaded playground.
As with their first two ventures, the Orosz brothers are focusing primarily on first-time and move-up buyers, although they acknowledge that market conditions over two past decades have steadily edged up the price point.
As an incentive, Trinity Family Buyers offers a buy-down program that enables buyers to obtain a significantly lower interest rate for the life of the loan. Also, all closing costs are paid by the builder. “Our goal is to come out of the gate and try to wow the customer,” says Matt Orosz.
That approach extends to the homes, where unique features are commonplace, including the Trinity Package Place. It offers an exclusive built-in outdoor storage area with a secure delivery door and an electronic keypad door lock with a video doorbell.
Homeowners can quickly drop off items behind a door that’s accessed via an electronic keypad. Entry into the storage compartments can be controlled from a mobile phone.
Another feature is the signature Trinity Luxury Retreat, which is incorporated into the primary bathroom of every single-family home and townhome. It’s a frameless heavy glass bath shower enclosure with a chrome one-function spray head that’s eight inches in diameter.
Also, for sustainability, every single-family home includes a minimum R-38 attic insulation; minimum 16-SEER Trane heat pump; MI energy-efficient, high-performance vinyl windows; and low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paints. Town-homes have a minimum 15.2-SEER Trane heat pump.
Trinity Family Builders labels those features, not coincidentally, the Trinity Triple Advantage. “A lot of these features are to really impress the buyer as we come out of the ground,” adds Matt Orosz. “In contrast to a lot of builders, who are taking away features [to control costs], we’re doing the exact opposite by putting a lot of features back into homes.”
The builder differs in other strategic approaches as well, highlighted by a substantial land pipeline to ensure future growth. In the two years following their sale of Hanover Family Builders, the brothers purchased approximately 7,000 lots. Of course, in homebuilding, inventory is critically important.
Notably, the 2022 sale of Hanover to Landsea Homes came partly by virtue of Hanover’s impressive holdings of developable land. Today, Matt Orosz asserts: “We’ll be right back to 600 and 700 units here within about 18 months to two years.” His confidence also can be attributable to the Orosz family operation, which is bolstered by industry veterans Colby Franks, Mike Bruno and Nichola Mitchell, each of whom has worked with the brothers during their previous two ventures.
Franks is executive vice president; Bruno is director of purchasing; and Mitchell is vice president of sales and marketing. At present, there are roughly 15 full-time employees, with a plan to scale up to 30-35 full-timers next year. “They’re critical in every step of the operation,” says Matt Orosz, who with his brothers comprise a formidable three-on-three basketball opponent. After all, it’s all about teamwork.
“Homebuilding is very much a multiplicative equation in our world,” adds Matt Orosz. “So, if any area of the business is lacking, it directly impacts all the others. If there’s a zero anywhere in the formula, the whole thing becomes a zero. And so we really stress finding the right people to be in the right positions.”
The strategy is working so well that Mitchell prefers to point to the brothers as the reason for success, citing their creation of “a great company culture.” She says: “They’re all humble, open and approachable, which is hard to find when you get to their level of expertise.”
Mitchell adds: “They don’t hide behind closed doors; they’re in the trenches with everyone else when needed. They encourage everyone to think outside the box and come up with ideas to help the company grow.”
Moreover, she notes, there’s a shared and enduring passion from the company’s founders — the type that has kept both her and the team pushing forward. It’s a passion that has resulted in philanthropic efforts that have totaled more than $20 million to local charitable initiatives in education, medical research and the arts.
“We could be doing any number of things,” Matt Orosz concludes. “But there’s nothing more valuable than hearing comments three years or five years after somebody has moved in about how much homeownership changed their lives. That really draws you back in pretty quick.”